Housebound Husband
by georgiewho
Summary: Special agent Gibbs and Officer DiNozzo have been assigned as partners on an undercover case, as a gay, married couple in order to save the daughter of First Sergeant Nathan Mires. First time working together, DiNozzo and Gibbs find that sometimes the best way to put on a good act is not to be acting at all.
1. In The Dark of the Night

Usually when people wanted Gibbs' help they would talk to his director or, hell, give him a call on his cellphone-despite the device being alien technology to him, he did know how to answer and end a call. So when Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was suddenly yanked from the warmth of his bed and crushed down against the floor of his bedroom with a knee pressing into his bare back. His arms were twisted behind his back and his view of his attackers was ended as a cloth bag was pulled over his head, the air becoming warm quickly as the older man tried to gather himself, attempting to figure out what was going on around him, quieting his breathing and straining his ears to listen. "You'll regret this," he said with a dangerously promising tone, speaking to whomever was listening to him, grunting as he was yanked up and shoved towards what he assumed was the door, the air feeling different as he stepped through.

He was surprised when they stepped outside. Why hadn't he heard the helicopter? He steeled his legs and was dragged and then shoved into the aircraft without any ceremony, getting a kick when he moved too much. Yes, someone was going to regret this

Jethro was NCIS-that was short for Naval Criminal Investigative Service for anyone that didn't know anything about anything. He'd just finished with his last partner and Gibbs had been working on a case by himself, one concerning an operative on the inside of the white house and he found himself wondering if this had anything to do with it.

They didn't travel long, which meant they were still in D.C. And when he was dragged from the helicopter, his head was pushed down to avoid the blades and he was shoved into a car, he could tell-it had that new car smell to it. He lay still along what felt like the back seat, trying to listen to the whispering he could hear coming from the front. Surprisingly he didn't feel the cold as he lay there waiting for what would come next-he thought about it a lot, trying to come up with a scenario that fit the situation he was in-what would come next?

It wasn't long before the car was coming to a stop, the door opening and the older man froze, anticipating rough hands yanking him out. But nothing happened.

"Sorry to use this kind of extreme, but we couldn't have anyone suspecting anything."

"...Boss?"

"Probie."

For some reason knowing that it was Franks didn't make him feel any more at ease, in fact the agent was readying himself for anything. But it wasn't long before he was helped out of the car and led over some grass-newly cut, the smell fresh and only stronger as they walked over it.

They were soon moving into a small building, the door clicking behind them as he was pushed to his knees on the wooden floor, the smell of dust everywhere.

"Close your eyes, Gibbs, that way you're not blinded."

Gibbs did as he was told and the hood was pulled from his head, his eyes shielded from the bright light, the older man letting his eyes adjust before he was opening them. His wrists were undone and he was helped to his feet, leaving the special agent looking miffed.

"What is this all about?" Gibbs growled at his former boss.

"We need your help, Jethro, we've-"

"You could have called," he said as they glowered at each other, the both of them always having clashed heads before. "I have a cellphone."

Mike Franks looked amused and he shrugged his shoulder. "Let's just say, I'm not very popular with the authorities right now, Probie."

Gibbs watched Franks as he paced in front of him, his hands tucked behind his back and Jethro found himself wondering that if he'd held them out in front of him right now, would they be trembling like he suspected they would be? Franks was getting too old for this, he'd gone through far too much and Gibbs was half afraid that his old friend was going a little mad from it all.

"I noticed you don't have a partner right now, so I found one for you," Franks told him seriously, just as the door in front of them flew open and a hooded, tied man was shoved down in front of them, rolling onto the wooden floor beneath him.

* * *

Tony DiNozzo's first thought when he was yanked out of bed and shoved onto the floor was that he had an angry ex that hadn't given him his key back. It didn't make any sense, though, because he hadn't given his key to anyone in months, he'd stuck to having one night stands, and that was only when he actually had the time for them. Things had been busy at work, which is why he hadn't bothered to find someone worth giving his key to.

"Whatever I've done I'm sure we can work it out," he huffed out before the bag was placed over his head. His hands had already been bound behind his back by that point, and he was only getting more and more confused.

Was this a kidnapping?

"Christ, DiNozzo, should've expected you wouldn't be decent," a gruff voice spoke-it almost sounded like his partner, Danny-before he was being jostled around, someone sliding what felt like boxers up his legs. It was definitely strange, but who was he to complain about being dressed when he apparently had an audience?

He tried to struggle away from the person holding him as he was dragged out of his apartment, his head reeling as he tried to figure out why his partner would be kidnapping him-or at least he thought it was Danny. He didn't have time to confirm that before he was being dragged out into the cold, the chill air being blown around by... a helicopter? That was so cliche. He could feel himself being shoved inside, the man following before the helicopter was taking off.

Having given up on trying to get away, since it obviously wasn't going to happen, he took the ride with ease, focusing on trying to figure out where they were going. It was impossible to tell without being able to see, especially when there was a car thrown into the mix. But before he could try and work it out in his head, the car had stopped and he was being dragged out into the cold again. They entered a building and Tony grunted as he was shoved to the ground.

"Good, you're just in time," Tony heard another male's voice say. It wasn't one he recognized. "You know, you didn't have to rough him up all that much once you got to this location.

"He can handle it, Franks," the man that had brought him here replied, and Tony confirmed in his head that, yes, this was Danny, Danny Price. But why? "Probably deserved it too. He's a good cop, but he likes to push his luck. Gets himself into trouble every now and again. I try and save his ass most of the time, though, the lucky bastard. He'd have gotten himself fired already if it wasn't for me."

It was then that Tony started to struggle again, his lip lifting in a slight snarl that went unseen. "Untie me!" he demanded, the words muffled by the bag, but still clear enough to be understood.

"And did I mention he was a little impatient?" Danny added with a scoff of a laugh, crouching down to undo the handcuffs around Tony's wrists. "Close your eyes or this won't be pleasant," he threw in, giving Tony only a couple of seconds before he was removing the bag from his head and backing away, worried that Tony would start swinging.

"What the hell is going on?" Tony asked, red faced and panting, obviously irritated with the situation. His gaze swept over the two men that he didn't recognize before settling on Danny, eyes narrowing. "Was there really a need for all that?"

"Had to be discreet," the slightly older man told him simply, shrugging one broad shoulder in an uncaring fashion, stepping aside in an offering, handing Tony over to Frank and Gibbs.

"Agent Gibbs, let me introduce you to Anthony DiNozzo, Baltimore PD, your new partner in crime," Frank waved his hand at the man, "DiNozzo, This is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, your partner on this case, sorry for the roughing around but we couldn't have anyone suspecting you of being involved," he explained, helping Tony to his feet.

"I don't really see how that was supposed to work, you attracted more attention than anything," Gibbs said pointedly before his eyes were sweeping over the man in front of him, eyeing him up from head to toe. "I hope you have something arranged for us to wear, Franks, Anthony looks cold," he said, unsure of how this kid could be of any help to him, then again there was something about him that Gibbs wanted to like.

Leading the way through to the other room, Franks switched on a light and pulled a folder out from the desk drawer, dropping it down in front of the two men, the both of them reaching for it at the same time. They bumped heads and Gibbs glared at the younger man, taking the file and flipping it open, dropping the photos of a dead woman down onto the wooden surface.

"The local M.E. said that she was kept for at least six months before she was killed, as if someone wanted her to suffer. There is evidence of malnutrition and abuse-both sexual and physical. There was no DNA other than the victim's on the scene-"

"And who's the victim?" Tony asked, interrupting Franks and earning a glare from Gibbs, his hand coming up and swatting the younger man on the back of his head.

"Who's the vic?" Gibbs asked as if Tony hadn't just asked the same question.

"Her name is Lorelai Rathwell, wife of a deceased marine, Corporal Ely Rathwell, mother of a Michael Rathwell, he has a partner, Richard Mills-" Franks continued on, flipping through the pages with Jethro, dropping some photos down onto the desk for DiNozzo to look at.

"A partner?" Tony asked, eyebrows knitting together. "He a cop?"

"No, DiNozzo, apparently it's called a life partner these days," Franks chuckled, Price joining in.

Gibbs looked just as baffled, looking at Tony, in hope he was getting what he was saying.

"Batting for the other team, Probie..."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Gibbs nodded, knowing that phrase well enough, it was more his era.

"So, they're gay?" DiNozzo asked, finally catching up to what was being said. He looked a little baffled still, flipping through the file a bit to try and figure out what Franks was getting at. He was irritated enough at being dragged out of bed at some ungodly time of night, and now he felt as though they were dragging things out, which only made him more irritable. "What does that have to do with the case, Franks? Why don't you just tell us what was so important that you had to drag us out of bed at this time of night?"

"Anthony, here, has a point," Gibbs growled out, crossing his arms over his chest.

They were interrupted as they were brought separate bags of clothing, none of them their own. "You're going undercover," Franks told them after a moment, Gibbs turning his head and arching a brow, trying to get what the man was trying to say. "As... partners."

Gibbs shook his head. "Are you saying..."

"I think he might be," Tony piped up, looking just as uncomfortable with the idea.

"In fact, married would be more appropriate," Franks told them, pulling out a box with two matching, plain gold bands-engraved with a romantic quote that hid any trace of the gps tracking device underneath.

"Like Hell," Gibbs said, looking furious at the very idea.

"Not happening," Tony agreed, shaking his head vigorously. "No offense, Special Agent Gibbs, but you're not my type," he told the man quickly, not wanting to offend his senior officer.

"None taken," Jethro said, looking at him with his sharp blue eyes. "You're not exactly mine either."

"I don't remember phrasing it as a question, Probie," Franks pointed out, giving Jethro a look to kill.

"Right. And what happens if one or both of us refuses?" Tony asked in that smartassed tone that Danny was so used to hearing, making him speak up.

"It's cleared with the boss, and I'd like to see you try and tell him you refused," he told his partner.

In reality, their boss had been pretty upset to hear about the assignment. The workload at the station was a lot bigger than normal and he'd been pissed off that he'd had to lose someone, but he'd agreed to it with quite a lot of coaxing on Danny's part.

"And why isn't it you taking this one, Price?" Anthony asked through gritted teeth, suddenly much more aware of his state of undress, and he attempted to cover himself by folding his arms over his chest.

"I'm the more experienced cop. With one man down, they're going to need the ones who have been at it longer at the station," Danny told him, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. It didn't make sense to Tony, though, because he'd always thought that the more experienced cops were the ones sent undercover so that there was less risk of a rookie mistake. Still, Tony didn't say anything, just swept his eyes over the other man suspiciously.

"Hypothetically speaking, if we did agree to do this, what exactly would we have to do?" Tony asked, wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue. He still wasn't on board just yet.

"Act as though you're a loving, newly married gay couple," Franks said after a moment. "You'll live in a house, have fake profiles made up, given new jobs just to get close, we need to find out who this fucker is... because we're pretty sure he's already got another victim."

"Another?" Gibbs asked, eyebrow jumping up, still not looking impressed.

"Daughter of First Sergeant Nathan Mires," Danny said from behind them.

"First Sergeant?" Tony asked, throwing in a low whistle at the end. "You sound more than pretty sure, Price. How long's she been missing?"

"Two months now," Danny answered, not sounding as though he had much hope for this girl. But whoever was doing this needed to be stopped either way, and Tony must have been thinking the same thing, because he looked more ready to agree to this than he had when they'd first pitched the idea.

"We don't have to, like... _kiss_ or anything, right?" Tony asked, making a slight face.

"Well, there might be a time that you might have to," Franks admitted. "You're going to have to play it by ear. Honestly, you both will be able to fit in better than most I know, you're both quick thinkers and you both know how to handle yourself. Think of this as a challenge."

"You really think it's going to help?" Gibbs spoke up finally, still not looking very impressed with the idea, but he too wanted to take this guy down, and as soon as possible.

"Yea, Gibbs, I do," Franks told him honestly, running his fingers through his hair.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" he said as he finally took up the clothing starting to go through it, looking for something to wear, sick of shivering. None of the clothes were anything he'd usually wear and he looked a bit doubtful as he went through it, throwing the ones he didn't like onto the floor, ending up with an empty bag and a single t-shirt, causing Franks to rub a hand over his face.

This was going to be a _long_ night.


	2. The one where Gibbs drinks cold coffee

It had taken a while, and quite a lot of convincing, before the two men were actually dressed. Tony had been highly amused by the clothes that had been picked out for Gibbs until he'd opened his own bag and found a sweater vest. "I'm not wearing this," he had insisted, but it had only taken Franks giving him a look and then getting in his face and assuring him in a low and dangerous tone that yes, he was wearing it before Tony was looking for the other pieces of his outfit, making disgusted sound in the back of his throat. He bet these weren't even label, he bet they came from somewhere like Target.

Jethro was a little more stubborn about things and actually had Franks go out and get him some comfortable slacks. There was no way he was wearing the tight jeans they were trying to get him into-the only pants provided other than a pair of overalls, the boss trying to give him a bit of hell about the fact that he liked to use his hands-he supposed this would give him a good opportunity to practice making things other than boats in his basement.

When they had finally gotten themselves into something a little more than their boxer shorts-Gibbs finally approving of the pants Franks had gone out to get, the four men left Franks office and slipped into an unmarked car, Gibbs insisting on driving only to have Franks turn him down after telling Jethro exactly what his issues were with letting him get behind the wheel. In the end it was Franks that drove, while telling Tony about some of his stories of cases he'd allowed Jethro to drive, remembering how careless he could be. Careless and unafraid, it didn't make for a good mix-thought he had to admit they always had made it to the case either right on time or early, he had to give him credit for that.

Without there being much of a time limit, however, Franks took the longest route, taking plenty of twists and turns to make sure that they weren't followed-not that it was likely at this time of the morning, which is exactly what the agent had hoped for when he'd made the decision to risk dragging Jethro Gibbs out of bed at three in the morning-he knew how irate the man could get without enough sleep.

The older agent parked the car out the back of an old motel, everyone gathering their things and heading into the room at the very end. It wasn't long before they were all seated around the table they found inside, the case files in a neat pile between them all. The room was quiet, almost too quiet, as each of them seemed to be waiting for the others to speak first. Gibbs would give Franks a pointed look, who in turn would just lift his eyebrows expectantly before turning his eyes to Tony. Tony would then glance between the two men before looking to his partner and then dropping his gaze back to the case files.

"This is completely ridiculous," Gibbs grumbled after a moment, dropping the file in his hands down onto the pile on the table and picking up his coffee, taking a mouthful and then spitting it back into the cup. It was cold. He put the cup back down and scratched lightly at his jaw.

"What is, Probie?" Franks asked him, leaning back in his chair.

"I don't see how this is going to work," Gibbs answered, starting to look annoyed. "I'm hardly a homosexual and by the looks of Anthony, neither is he. So, how are we supposed to even pull this off? I don't know DiNozzo, hell, he doesn't know me either, how are we supposed to pull off an undercover operation like this when we don't even know each other enough to tr-"

"Just like a newly married couple, Jethro," Franks said and both him and Price started to laugh.

"I've been married more than enough-" Gibbs started to say only to be interrupted by Franks.

"He means that for the first few days you won't have to go anywhere. In fact, it's pretty much expected that you won't be seen," Price told them, hoping they'd catch on without them actually having to say it. "You'll have time then to get to know each other, use it wisely. Because once you step out that door, I'm sure you'll be very scrutinized, you can't take the risk of breaking your cover."

"Why is it expected that we won't be-" Tony started, stopping himself when he looked to Price for an answer, catching the look he was being given, that small smirk on his partner's lips, and he suddenly caught on. "Oh," he finished, his voice quieter than when he'd started to speak, swallowing hard as he felt his face starting to heat up at the idea of doing that with this man.

It couldn't be helped when his mind drifted right into that territory, though, the younger man having always been the curious type. He couldn't help but wonder who would be the one giving and who would be the one receiving. Gibbs was older, which made him the obvious pick for being the dominant one, but Tony liked to think that he was the authoritative type and that he had a chance at-

"Something the matter, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, glowering at him as if he knew exactly what was on the other man's wandering mind, the older man arching a brow at him.

"No," Tony answered, probably a little too quickly, his face going even more red before he was righting himself in the chair and glancing up at Gibbs in an almost sheepish fashion. It would definitely be him receiving, he realized, because he doubted this gruff man would allow anyone the satisfaction of dominating him. "It's just... we won't really have to make it seem like we're..." he paused to clear his throat. "We don't have to worry about anyone surveillancing us besides you, right?" he asked, trying to figure out if they would have to make it look as though they were having sex, just in case anyone looked through windows or had cameras set up. He wasn't even sure he could be that convincing.

"Hopefully not, it's a pretty good neighborhood," Price answered DiNozzo before falling silent when his eyes fell on Gibbs, his eyes flicking to DiNozzo in order to try and figure out why Gibbs was glaring.

Gibbs glowered a bit longer, his sharp blue eyes not leaving the Baltimore cop for a moment before he was finally looking down at the picture of the house they were supposed to be living in. "It's a little big..."

"You're thinking about adopting," Franks told him and Gibbs arched a brow, giving him an unamused glare. The older man shifted in his chair before glaring back. "Deal with it. it was the only place on the market at the time and so now you want kids."

"I'm too young for kids," DiNozzo argued immediately, only to get smacked on the back of the head by Price.

"And I'm way too _old_, I'd rather get a dog," Gibbs growled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It doesn't mean you _actually_ have to adopt," Franks told him, looking amused. "It's just a future plan."

"Before or after I look as old as you, Franks?" Gibbs shot back.

"The way the two of you squabble, I'm beginning to wonder if it shouldn't be the two of you getting hitched," Price threw in with a smug smirk. He knew better than to look up at Franks. Having worked a case with him back in the day, he'd learned early on not to make eye contact after a comment like that one, and if Gibbs was as much like Franks as he seemed, Price imagined he was getting an equally as piercing glare aimed in his direction.

"I'm game," DiNozzo threw in quickly, a grin on his face. "Franks, how do you feel about sweater vests?" he asked the older man. Tony would admittedly be grateful to just hand his spot over to Franks, even though he knew that it wouldn't happen, he was stuck with it. He hadn't learned all the rules yet, and made the newbie mistake of looking up at Franks, only to quickly smother the grin on his face, looking instead like a wounded deer caught in headlights only to wince when both Gibbs and Franks hands both connected firmly with the back of his head. "That's what I suspected. Good thing I_ love_ them..."

"Yeah, good thing," Franks grunted out, pulling the case files toward him to flip through them and see if there was anything he'd missed.

"So, I understand that discretion was important," Tony started, getting right back to business. As much as a goof off as he was, he took his job seriously and he figured the fact that he was dragged out of his home like he was, this had to be fairly important to somebody. "What I don't understand is why our _directors_ didn't contact us about this. It seems a lot more like a private matter than an undercover op," he pointed out.

"Oh, it's _definitely_ personal," Gibbs agreed as his eyes flickered over Franks, he knew his ex-boss. He knew that if this had been approved, Franks would have gone through the right channels, but he had a feeling that he submitted a request only to be refused. It wasn't the company's fault or anything, Franks hadn't been the same since their last case, the man was terribly paranoid and if his psych reports were anything to go by, Franks was well on the road to losing his mind. And that was the only reason Gibbs was still here.

"So then how did you get your hands on these resources? The house, the jobs, fake records, all the paperwork..." Tony asked, flipping open the folder with his fake profile and skimming through it.

"It's better if you don't know that," Franks told him seriously, almost daring Tony to press the issue.

It only took one glance at the other man for Tony to decide that leaving it alone was best, but there were still things that he didn't understand. "Why me?" he asked, looking both at Franks and Price pointedly. "If it's a personal issue, why didn't you just take your partner undercover with you? Why is my involvement so important?"

"He saved my ass a number of years ago, and I still owe him a favor," Price answered easily, as though that answered all of Tony's questions.

It didn't. But Tony left it at that anyway, knowing enough about his partner to know that trying to get anymore out of him would be like pulling teeth, and this was not a time of night that Tony wanted to bother with that. This was his mission now, and he saw no way to get out of it, so there wasn't much point in trying to get all of the answers. It wasn't like they would change anything anyway.

"After this, Franks," Gibbs told him lowly. "You'll be the one owing me."

"Yeah, I know, Probie, I know," Franks mumbled, sounding like he'd rather be doing anything but owing Gibbs, but he didn't have much of a choice, he knew Jethro could keep Tony in line and he was also hoping that the kid would do Gibbs some good as well.

"Alright, " Gibbs finally agreed, they would do this. He was going to regret it, he just knew it, his eyes falling on Anthony. He supposed they would look rather impressive together-if looks were anything to go by, that was-the kid was good looking, bit of a pretty boy, he supposed it could work.

"I'm keeping my last name," the older man growled at DiNozzo.

"Fine by me," Tony told him chirpily. "But we're supposed to be married, so what does that make me? Anthony DiNozzo-Gibbs... Gibbs-DiNozzo... Anthony Gibbs-DiNozzo... Though, Jethro DiNozzo sounds pretty flash, Boss... What do you thi-" The younger man was suddenly cut off by a glare from his new boss along with a sharp slap to the back of his head-he had the feeling he'd have to get used to that-and he winced slightly. "Anthony Gibbs, it is."


	3. The house that had potential

Following the two moving trucks in the black Range Rover, Gibbs tapped his hand on the wheel impatiently, taking a deep breath through his nose. Instead of losing his cool like some people would, Gibbs turned his eyes to Tony and arched a brow. "You ready for this, DiNozzo? Don't want you getting cold feet-it's a bit late for that," he said, nodding at the ring on his finger in an attempt to make a joke. His own ring felt foreign on his finger and Gibbs was ever aware of it. It had been quite a while since he'd worn a ring on that finger, but in his ideal world it hadn't been long enough.

"I don't really have a choice, do I, Boss?" DiNozzo pointed out, twisting the ring on his finger around now that his attention had been brought back to it. He was still trying to get used to it, since he'd never had to wear a ring on that finger, or any finger at all. He wanted nothing more than to take it off and chuck it out the window, but was pretty sure that Franks and Price could track him down even without the tracker, so he thought it was probably wise to just get used to having it on.

It had been a couple of days since they'd been dragged out of bed, but they'd barely had time to breathe since that time. Franks had kept them running, going to this shop and that shop, making them pick out their furniture and-with his guidance, of course-get more clothes. Every time they thought they were done, and could just sit down for a moment, Franks would think of something else they needed and would send them off to another store. It hadn't been long before Tony started to wonder if he'd been thinking of things just so they would have to jump when he said jump.

At least now they would finally have a chance to sit down, even if it did mean having to act like a married couple. Maybe Tony could convince his honey to cook out on the grill for him, he thought with an amused huff of laughter.

Glancing over at him, Gibbs arched a brow. "What's so funny?" he asked him as he pulled the vehicle into the driveway, leaving plenty of room to move furniture and boxes from the trucks to the house.

"The thought of you in an apron, cooking out on the grill for dinner tonight," Tony told him with a smug grin. He'd probably just ruined any chance of that happening now that he'd said something, but he hadn't had high hopes of it happening anyway. In fact, ordering in was probably the most likely solution since both of them had been running non-stop for the past couple of days. And Gibbs was older, which meant it was probably taking even more of a toll on him, if Tony had to guess.

"Is that what you'd like, Tony?" Gibbs asked his, arching a brow, daring him to respond with an affirmative. He parked the car up in the garage, switching the engine off and climbing out of the car, meeting Anthony's eyes with a tight smile.

"That'd be great, Boss, I didn't think you'd-" he stopped mid-sentence when he looked up from undoing his seatbelt to meet Gibbs' piercing blue eyes, making him change his mind pretty damn quickly. "I was actually thinking take-out sounded good. What do you think, Boss? Chinese? Pizza?"

"Pizza," Gibbs agreed after a moment's thought before he was looking at the movers that were starting to unload the truck. "Why don't you go organise that, make sure you get enough for everyone..." he said as he went to help the movers, keeping away from Tony as much as he could so they didn't have to be acting right away, allowing the other male to order the pizza.

It was easy for Tony to catch onto what the older male was doing, and he was definitely on board. He'd slipped off to order the pizza, making sure to get enough for the movers like Gibbs had instructed, and requesting that it be delivered a bit later, to give them time to finish unpacking everything. Then he'd busied himself with placing the boxes in the rooms they belonged in while Gibbs helped the movers get everything from the trucks into the house.

Of course, Tony lost interest in helping rather quickly, and it wasn't long before he found himself exploring the house rather than moving boxes. It was a big house, with plenty of room for each of them to have their own space, hell, their own bedroom if they wanted to, but there was only one bed in the moving trucks, probably because Franks had suspected one or both of them would get the idea to occupy separate rooms, which was too much of a risk. And if Gibbs had had his way, he would have had them in separate rooms, not very happy about the fact that he would have to sleep in the same bed as DiNozzo.

However, he had to admit that the house had potential. It was obviously made out of strong wood and had been painted well, not a crack in the paint anywhere. Of course, that could have easily been because it was repainted recently, but the paint didn't look very new, the color just the slightest bit faded from time, and there was no new paint smell to contradict that. Gibbs found himself looking for faults in their new 'home' every time he stepped inside with a box or piece of furniture.

Something that Tony found that he liked was the size of the tub in the en suite bathroom. It was the size of a hot tub, although he was aware that he could have been exaggerating just a little. Still, he decided this was a good way to play up their 'relationship' and he went back into the bedroom and over to a window that was overlooking the driveway where Gibbs and the movers were all gathered, still unloading.

"Oh, Honey!" he called, fighting back the smirk that was threatening to appear, knowing that Gibbs couldn't argue the term of endearment-not with the movers around. "You should see this bathtub!" he announced, adding in a wink that he wasn't even sure they were close enough to see, mostly to see what sort of reaction he could get out of his new boss.

At first, Gibbs forgot that Tony was even talking to him, and he glanced up and lifted his eyebrows, catching the wink and there was suddenly an unreadable look on Jethro's face as he struggled to hold a heavy bedside table in his hands. "I have," he lied easily, knowing that one of them would have had to have seen the house before they had bought it, and he flashed DiNozzo an amused smirk before he was heading inside with the furniture, ignoring the chuckles of the movers from behind him as he headed inside again.

"Maybe you and I should have a better look later. What do you say, Boss?" Tony shot back before Gibbs had made it inside fully, wanting a better reaction than the one Gibbs had offered him. He didn't even stop to think to be embarrassed with the workers standing around, watching them, or the fact that he was probably going to get his ass beat for this later-and not in a fun way, either.

Since the front door was propped open, Gibbs had caught what Tony had said and he was already making his way upstairs with the bedside table, his face still unreadable. He lowered the item beside the bed before he was stepping silently towards the door, looking through to the next room, glancing at the bathroom only briefly before he was coming up behind DiNozzo. "How about now, DiNozzo?"

The younger man jumped, startled by Gibbs' sudden presence, but he didn't dare turn and face the man. He just cleared his throat, trying to sound less worried than he was. "There are witnesses," he reminded the older man, picturing Gibbs filling the bathtub and giving him a very close look by dunking his head under the water and holding him there. After the things he'd called out the window, he wouldn't be surprised.

"Scared?" Gibbs asked. Knowing that they were being watched by the movers downstairs, and wanting to keep up appearances, he brought his hands up and grabbed awkwardly at Tony's hips as he carried on speaking, knowing that they couldn't be heard from downstairs. "You should be. We can do this the hard way if you like, DiNozzo," he told him quietly, almost threateningly, before he was stepping away from DiNozzo and the window, ducking into the bathroom and taking a proper look around. It was a nice sized tub, he had to admit, and the tilting on the walls was done with a precision that Jethro could appreciate.

"Maybe you should spoil yourself, DiNozzo, run yourself a bubble bath and relax," Gibbs said dismissively, a mocking smirk on his face as he turned to face him.

Still trying to recover from the strong hand that had settled on his hip, a little unsettled by it, Tony turned away from the window, pulling a slight face now that it couldn't be seen by the men outside. "Thanks, but I think I'll wait until you're not around. I'm fairly sure that you could make a drowning look accidental," he pointed out, only half serious.

The truth was that he was a little scared of what Gibbs might be capable of doing, he had no idea what to expect from the older man. As long as Tony kept his mouth shut and his hands to himself, there would be nothing to worry about, but Anthony didn't made a habit of doing either one of those things, which basically meant that, unless the younger man watched his back, he was screwed.

Gibbs didn't offer up a reply, but there was a smirk on his face as he headed back downstairs to finish helping the movers get the last of the stuff inside, just wanting to be able to sit down and have a drink. He remembered clearly that he'd packed one of his favorite bottles of bourbon and he was looking forward to opening it and pouring himself a glass.

It wasn't long at all before the movers were finished unpacking the trucks, and when all the pizza had been eaten, mostly by Tony, the men had packed up their trucks, leaving the two 'newlyweds' knee high in boxes and furniture that didn't yet have a place. Looking around, Gibbs grunted and stepped over it all, heading for the suitcase he'd put upstairs. Picking it up off of the floor where he'd put it, Gibbs laid it out on the bed and unzipped it, pulling out the bottle with a silent gratification-holding it out in front of him.

"Gunna share that, Boss?" Tony asked, coming up behind him and boldly delivering a light smack to the older man's ass, quickly stepping around the bed to avoid getting a much harder smack of his own, or a punishment that was even more severe.

"If you can find the glasses," Gibbs muttered and glared after him, not even bothering to reach back to soothe the smacked area. "Wouldn't have a clue since you were in charge of boxes."

At that, Tony scratched the back of his neck. He'd sort of failed at that task, hence the piles of boxes down in the living room. But he had sorted a lot of the boxes into the rooms they belonged in before getting sidetracked, and he figured the kitchen would be as good a place as any to start looking. "I'll find them," he assured the older man before slipping from the room.

In a stroke of luck, the glasses were in one of the boxes he'd moved into the kitchen earlier, and he grabbed two of them out, stopping at the sink to give them a quick rinse and shaking the water off rather than bothering to find the dishcloths to dry them properly. It wasn't long before he was returning to the bedroom he now shared with Gibbs, holding out the glasses with a triumphant grin on his face.

"Found them," he told his boss proudly.

Collecting the glasses from DiNozzo, Gibbs carried them between a couple of fingers and put them down on the bedside table, opening the bottle. "I hope you don't snore," Gibbs warned him as he poured them a drink each, putting the cap back on and doing it up tight, picking up the glasses before he was holding one out towards Tony. "You'll end up sleeping on the floor."

"Only when I drink," Tony told him jokingly, certain that he _didn't_ snore, and he took the glass from Gibbs, his eyes widening in surprise as he took his first mouthful. The man had taste. "This is really good bourbon."

At that comment, Gibbs had been tempted to take the glass away from the other male, just to be sure, but after a moment, he decided that, no, Tony had earned that drink. They both had.

"It had better be, I paid enough for it," Gibbs grumbled at the memory, taking a mouthful and disappearing into the bathroom to look for things he might have to work on. "So what got you this job, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, his voice muffled from the walls between them.

"Bad luck?" Tony answered with an almost amused huff, taking another drink of his bourbon before he was following Gibbs, leaning up in the doorway of the bathroom and watching him. "Looking for bugs and cameras, Boss?" he asked him curiously.

"Something like that," Gibbs muttered, checking the cupboards. He actually hadn't thought about that, but it was a good idea to do that as well, and it wasn't long before he was doing a sweep of the entire house, taking his glass with him and listening to Tony trailing behind him like a lost puppy.


	4. Jack and John Smith, Boss

It was late morning when Tony DiNozzo woke up to find an empty space next to him in the bed that he was supposed to be sharing with Gibbs; although, he could really say that he was surprised to find himself alone. From what he'd learned about Gibbs over the past few days, the man really was an ex-Marine, that part wasn't just added to his fake profile. Which meant that he probably got up before the sun did every day. Gibbs had obviously been careful not to wake him up, which Tony was grateful for considering how difficult it had been getting to sleep with someone new in the bed-that someone new being a male and his new boss.

Anthony felt a little bit worried when he realised that Gibbs' side of the bed had been carefully made as well, the worrisome part being that he'd made the bed around him without causing him to stir. But the younger man brushed it off and took the time to make up his own side once he'd finally rolled out of bed, figuring Gibbs wouldn't approve of anything less.

After leaving the bedroom, Tony's first stop was the kitchen, and he was surprised to find that everything had already been put into its rightful place. After a glance into the living room to see where Gibbs sat, sorting through boxes, he was surprised to find that at least half of that mess had been cleared up as well. Considering how much had been done, and the fact that it wasn't even nine yet, it seemed that Gibbs had been awake even longer than the younger man had suspected.

Walking back into the kitchen, DiNozzo noticed that there was even a pot of coffee brewed, although it was only a third of the way full by now. Assuming that it was only as strong as most normal people made their coffee-as per the directions-Tony poured himself a cup and added his usual spoonful of sugar and just a splash of milk. While he let that cool, he made himself a bowl of Lucky Charms, grabbing that and his coffee and heading for the living room.

Taking a sip of the coffee as he started out of the room, Tony coughed and spluttered, immediately turning to set the dishes on the counter again. The coffee tasted like tar, and he pulled out the container of sugar and poured it into the mug so that he would have enough of it to mask the taste. Who the hell needed their coffee that strong anyway?! After finally mixing enough sugar into the coffee to make it drinkable, Tony took it into the living room, settling down at the coffee table with his breakfast and, finally, having his first proper stretch of the morning.

"I don't know about you, Boss, but I slept much better than I expected to, having to share a bed with you."

Glancing up from the box he was digging through, Gibbs kind of glowered in Tony's direction before he was heading towards him and grabbing up a box, passing Tony and whacking him firmly on the back of his head. "You snore, DiNozzo," he told him pointedly, letting him know that he hadn't slept as well. He would get used to it, though, he always did.

Tony had just lifted a spoonful of cereal to take a mouthful and ended up getting his nose shoved into the spoon, nearly inhaling the milk as well as some of the cereal. Dropping the spoon back into the bowl, he huffed and lifted a hand to wipe his nose, glaring at the older man. "I don't snore," he insisted. "Are you sure you didn't wake yourself with your own snoring?"

Another swat to the head followed Tony's accusation before Gibbs was stealing Anthony's cup of coffee, lifting it up to his mouth and taking a mouthful before he made a face and looked into the cup. "What the hell is this, DiNozzo? Did you pour all the sugar into the cup?"

"There's still a little left," Tony told him, sounding rather amused. "I usually only use a spoonful, but someone decided to replace our coffee with tar, so I had to do something to make it drinkable," he told the man with a shrug of his shoulder, lifting the cup and taking a mouthful, swallowing it down with a satisfied sigh. "If you don't like my coffee, get your own, Sweet-cheeks," he told him teasingly, deciding that he could easily get used to this whole pretending to be married thing. It was quite fun.

Gibbs just leaned in close to Tony's ear, not looking too impressed. "How about you go get it for me?" he told him, simply because he'd been a little rude about it, however amusing it was. He thought about the next part of what he was going to say before he said it, his hand coming up to squeeze roughly at Tony's shoulder. "Or you could carry on with this..." he said and swept a hand towards the boxes remaining.

Tony's eyes flicked from Gibbs to the pile of boxes, and he decided that another wise-assed comment probably wasn't his best option, so he sighed and shrugged the older man's hand away so that he could stand. "Let me guess... ex-Marine, so you probably take your tar black, right?"

"And two sugars," Gibbs agreed as he got back to work, moving away from Tony again.

With the simple way that Gibbs took his coffee, it didn't take Tony more than a minute to make, and he was soon bringing it back out to the other man, placing it down on the coffee table and going back to his breakfast. As he ate, he alternated between watching Gibbs and letting his eyes move around the living room, realizing just how much had been done and looking rather guilty about the fact that he hadn't been awake to help.

"How long have you been up, Boss?" he asked curiously.

"Since zero-three-hundred," Gibbs told him, arching his brow and looking over at him, watching him back. He honestly didn't mind too much, considering the fact that he hadn't slept right through the night since the loss of his wife and daughter. But it was kind of amusing to blame it on DiNozzo, especially with how guilty he was currently looking.

"That long?" Tony asked, sounding even more guilty, as well as surprised. "No one's ever told me that I snored," he told the man after a moment. Alright, so it was kind of a lie. He'd been told a few times that he snored, but he'd never believed it, always having been one of those guys that to believe it, he had to see it.

"Well you do," Gibbs said with a shrug, emptying the box and tossing it into the hallway behind him before he was picking up another and tearing the tape from it. He looked at the picture frames within it and was surprised to find that they actually looked pretty convincing in the photos. They'd both gone to different places in their new get ups, and Franks had taken their photos, sending them off to be photoshopped into 'couples' photos. Instead of saying anything, Jethro picked the top one up and went to find a place for it, not really picking anywhere special, just finding spaces for the photos wherever they would fit. "This is new," he said to himself as his eyes once again fell on one of the pictures of them, surprised to find them looking happy.

Ever the curious one, Tony abandoned his bowl of cereal and stood, going over to look at a few of the photos that Gibbs had already set out, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. They were very convincing, and Tony picked up one of the frames, bringing it closer to inspect it, as if he were trying to remember if it had actually been taken with the two of them together.

"Tell me about it," DiNozzo said in agreement after a moment, setting the photo back down.

It hadn't really caught up to him yet that he was supposed to be married now. Maybe not for real, but Tony was quickly starting to realize that he didn't know how to be married-he'd only ever had one serious relationship, and even that had only lasted about six months before the woman had decided that he wasn't committed enough.

"You ever been married, Boss?" he asked, thinking he remembered something being said about him having a wife, but he'd been too busy trying to get out of this whole arrangement that he hadn't paid really paid enough attention to know for sure.

"Twice," Gibbs muttered in reply, pausing by the coffee table to pick up his coffee and taking a mouthful before he was heading towards the kitchen, looking for something to eat. He'd just opened the fridge when the front doorbell rang and he froze, stepping back to look through to the other room, meeting Tony's eyes.

Tony looked down at himself after meeting Gibbs' eyes for a moment, more aware than he had been all morning about having nothing on besides his boxers, which he'd only worn because the two of them had been sharing a bed. "Should we answer that?" he asked Gibbs unsurely, since they hadn't expected to have to face anyone for at least a few days.

"Go get a shirt on, DiNozzo," Gibbs growled, slamming the fridge closed and briskly heading for the front door. They couldn't just ignore it-the sooner they got themselves on the inside the better. Things were just moving a lot faster than had been expected. Closing his hand around the door handle, he turned the knob and pulled the door open, not caring that he was a little scruffy looking after unpacking all morning. "How can I help you?"

Tony was upstairs before the door had ever been opened, not planning to argue the instructions he'd been given, and he quickly dug through their new clothes to find something to wear. The first t-shirt that he found was one of Gibbs', he was pretty sure, but Tony couldn't be bothered to care at that moment-it wasn't as though the other man had worn it yet. He was making his way down the stairs again just as whoever was at the door started to speak, his ears perked to listen.

"We saw you moving in yesterday, and we figured we couldn't let the new faces go unwelcomed," the older of the two men spoke, offering his hand. "Captain Jack Smith," he introduced himself. "You look like a Marine, am I wrong?" he asked, his eyes dragging up and down the length of Gibbs' body, seeming to inspect him... or perhaps he was checking him out, Tony couldn't really tell.

"You're not wrong," Gibbs said, reaching out and taking Jack's hand, shaking it firmly. "Gibbs, Jethro Gibbs," he introduced himself and then nodded at Tony. "This is Tony, my partner," he told him briskly, almost as if he was letting him know that he was off limits.

"Hello!" the younger newcomer said cheerfully. "John," he introduced before giving Tony a welcoming hug, a lot more bold than the other man, it seemed, which actually made Gibbs smirk a little. "You're both such an adorable couple, newly married?" he asked, his British accent being shown off now that he'd spoken more. Tony still looked rather shell-shocked after the sudden hug, but he seemed to shake it after only a second, searching for an answer to the question they'd been asked.

"Newlyweds, yes," he confirmed, glancing over at Gibbs' for guidance, almost looking as though he were asking permission to speak. But really, he just hadn't prepared himself for visitors yet and he was hoping that Jethro had something up his sleeve.

"Sorry, we tend to be a little... overly friendly," Jack apologized with a friendly, charming smile. "The whole community is, really. Will we be seeing the two of you at the mixer this Saturday?"

"Of course," Gibbs said roughly, reaching out and grabbing Tony around the shoulders, dragging him closer to him, not easing up until the other man 's side was pressed close to his own. "Tony loves mixers, don't you Tony?" Gibbs asked as he turned his eyes down to his 'husband'.

It shouldn't have surprised the younger man, since they were supposed to be married, but it took a hell of a lot of effort to keep from looking surprised at the show of affection-faked or not-as he met Gibbs' eyes with a wide grin. "If there's alcohol, you know I'm there, Boss," he responded honestly, glad that the answer was very in character with the person he was supposed to be.

"Boss, huh?" Jack asked with a chuckle. "I think I like your style."

"He likes it too," Tony nodded at Gibbs and grinned wolfishly, trying not to laugh.

Without even thinking about it, Gibbs dropped his hand away from Anthony's shoulder before it was connecting swiftly with the back of Tony's head, eliciting a surprised squeak from the younger man, Gibbs smirking a little. "We would invite you in, but I'm afraid the place is still a mess."

"Oh, that's perfectly alright," John assured him with a knowing grin, looking between the two of them. "I'm sure the two of you have been far too busy to get everything unpacked, right?" he asked them, taking the plate that was in his own partner's hands and holding it out to Tony and Gibbs. "We brought you a souffle. Jack, here, is a wonderful cook."

"A souffle?" Tony asked, sounding impressed as he glanced up at Gibbs, taking the dessert from the other man. "That's his favorite. I'm sure we'll enjoy it a little later," he assured John, before he was pulling away from Gibbs, glad for the excuse to do so, and moving through the house to go and put the souffle in the kitchen for them to have later.

Holding back his own laugh, Gibbs turned and watched Tony with his piercing blue eyes, rather surprised when his eyes dropped to the younger man's ass, making him frown slightly before his gaze was back on their visitors, a smirk on his mouth. "So, where is this mixer, exactly?" he asked them, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning up in the doorway.

"Oh, that's right, you haven't had much of a chance to explore," John realized with a soft laugh, shaking his head a little at his own mistake. "This community has just about everything you could want. Most of the events happen at the community center, but once a month, there's a community pub that hosts the mixer. You'll just go down to the end of this street, and take a left. It's right there, can't miss it."

"Alright," Gibbs said with a nod, eyeing them both up again, briefly. They were harmless, it seemed, but it didn't mean that he wouldn't keep a good eye on them. A good investigator always kept a good eye.

"And you can find us at the blue house three houses down that way," Jack added, nodding down the street. "Though, we're not often home, we travel a lot and when we're not traveling, we're working. John's a Doctor and-"

"You're a Marine," Gibbs replied with a nod. "Understandable."

"We have a really nice ship we like to take out," John spoke up, slipping an arm around Jack's waist.

"Maybe we can join you sometime," Tony threw in as he joined them again, flashing them a smile that was almost as charming as Jack's. "Jethro, here, loves a good ship as much as the next guy. He even likes to build his own boats," he informed the couple, proud of himself for remembering that Franks had mentioned Gibbs' tendency to spend hours in his basement working on a boat.

"Well, we don't usually invite people out on our ship with us," John told them with a somewhat regretful look. "It's a bit of a... personal thing for us. But we'd love to have you both over for dinner or drinks sometime," he offered instead, the smile on his face returning.

"And we'd love to," Gibbs nodded, noticing by their reactions and reaction to the suggestion that they were hiding something, it didn't seem to be important, but Gibbs stored it away for later use. He moved to block Tony off from answering, his hand back on the door, closing it a little as he went to say his goodbyes. "Well, we were about to settle in and watch a dvd, call on us whenever you like," he told them, throwing them a charming smile for the first time.

"Count on it, Boss," Jack told him with a teasing wink and a precise salute, an amused grin on his face as he started to guide John off the porch, the other male waving as they made their leave. Gibbs turned to look at Tony as he closed the door behind them, a smirk on his face.

"Looks like we'll be having our debut as a newlywed couple on Saturday, DiNozzo. Want to call and make an appointment to go in and get yourself a pedicure?"

"On it, Boss," Tony snorted, going as far to cross the room and pick up his phone from the coffee table, flipping it open and punching in Price's number. He figured he could brief his partner on what had been happening so far, as well as make the bluff look even more believable. "Only if you're paying, though."

Gibbs didn't say a word as he grabbed the phone and clicked it closed, his hand coming up and smacking DiNozzo in the back of the head a little harder than before, the resounding smack sound putting a smile on his face as he pocketed the phone and headed back to the kitchen.


	5. Good morning, Sunshine

With his arms folded over his chest, Gibbs paced back and forth in the hallway downstairs, waiting for DiNozzo to wake up. He should have been up by now, considering they'd arranged the run the night before, deciding that they needed to do a thorough once over of the neighbourhood they were in. They needed to know which house was where and who lived in them-if they could manage it without looking suspicious. They still weren't on their game, they were two straight guys trying to pretend to be gay.

The older man was sick of waiting, though. It was already zero-six-thirty-four and the younger male still hadn't even shifted in the bed over the past half hour. Walking up the stairs determinedly, the ex-marine headed into the bedroom and over to the bed, grabbing up a handful of the blankets and yanking them back with a frown, intending on dragging him right out of bed to wake him up.

However, somehow, he'd never really counted on finding this.

DiNozzo was sprawled on his back-already, Gibbs knew that the younger man alternated between that and his stomach, always a sprawling mess. It reminded the older man of his first wife. What didn't remind him of his wife, however, was the morning wood that Tony was sporting, and what Gibbs hadn't expected was the fact that it was sticking out through the slit in the younger male's boxer shorts. The pair he was wearing looked old and ratty, so he wasn't too surprised, but he still hadn't expected it, and it left him hesitating only a moment longer. "DiNozzo!" he barked and grabbed the male by the ankle, giving him a yank and causing him to gasp as he woke with a start.

"'m up, Boss," he mumbled, dropping back against the pillows with a tired look on his face when he realized he wasn't in any sort of danger. He wasn't even aware of his wardrobe malfunction as he half sat up a few moments later, rubbing a hand over his face. "What time is it?" he asked, vaguely remembering that they were supposed to be going for a run today.

"Zero-six-thirty, DiNozzo, and I would suggest..." Gibbs started, the back of his neck feeling hot as he avoided looking, just keeping his eyes on the sleepy man's face. "...you fix yourself up."

It took Tony a moment to catch on to what Gibbs was talking about, the younger man looking confused as he looked himself over, catching the malfunction and tucking himself back into his boxer shorts. "You're my husband, shouldn't you be fixing it for me, Boss?" he asked cheekily, stretching with a yawn as he tried to wake up properly, somewhat embarrassed by his mistake. But he wasn't embarrassed enough to show it, instead he just threw a mischievous grin at his boss.

"Sure, my tools are downstairs, I can fix it for once and for all," Gibbs warned him, being playful despite the moody expression on his face. He glanced over at the younger man with an expectant look on his face.

"I'll, uh... I'll handle it, Boss, I know you're very busy," Tony assured him, clearing his throat and finally rolling out of bed, being sure to make it up neatly. "Zero-six-thirty, you said?" he asked, as though finally realizing how late he was. "Whoops. I guess I should get dressed then, huh Boss?"

Gibbs didn't even offer up an answer, just lifted his eyebrow and walked out of the room now that DiNozzo was awake, the older man already dressed in a pair of gray sweatpants and a gray sweatshirt. Going downstairs, Jethro picked up his sneakers and sat on the bottom two steps as he put them on.

"Don't leave me waiting, Tony," he called over his shoulder, giving the laces a firm tug, tying them.

By that time, Tony was in his clothes as well, since actually taken the time to set them out the night before. He'd tried to be prepared for this morning, because he knew he wasn't in the habit of waking up so early. However, he hadn't been so thoughtful as to do the same with his running shoes, and was still on the hunt for them. Currently, he was on the floor with his ass in the air, looking under the bed. Nothing.

"About that, Boss..." Tony called back. He at least had the common sense to quickly pull on his socks before coming out of the bedroom and starting down the stairs, thinking maybe he'd left them by the couch.

"Here, DiNozzo," Gibbs told him with a nod, hearing him coming down. "By the door."

"I don't usually leave my shoes by the door," DiNozzo said with a slight frown, trying to remember why he might have done that. He hadn't even been anywhere, really.

"You didn't leave them by the door, you left them in the middle of the bedroom," Gibbs told him as he stood up, getting out of Tony's way as he came down the stairs, and grabbed his keys for the house, already heading for the front door.

"I thought that was where I had left them," Tony said, sounding rather proud of the fact that he had remembered. He stopped at the door to quickly slip his shoes on, not needing to tie the laces since he kept them tied loose enough to just slip on, and hurried out the door after Gibbs, not wanting to be left behind.

"Don't forget to lock the door, Tony," Gibbs told him just before he caught up, the older man checking the mailbox while he was out here, waiting for DiNozzo.

Damnit.

"Don't have my keys, Boss," he admitted, hoping the man would show some mercy and lock up with his own set of keys. Although, after making him wait this morning, DiNozzo wouldn't blame the man if he only got that look of his in response.

"Here." No such luck. Gibbs threw his keys over his shoulder in DiNozzo's direction. Glancing around, he noticed a few others out for their morning jogs as well, and the agent in him studied each one of them carefully before he was turning and looking at Tony again. "If you don't hurry it up, DiNozzo, I'm going to start without you."

Although he'd fumbled, Tony managed to catch the keys and went to lock the door, finishing just as Gibbs hurried him along. "Coming, Boss," he said obediently, jogging to catch up and handing the man his keys. "You know, I didn't think of this before, but you were a Marine. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up. Unless old age has slowed you down, of course."

Not even caring that they were in public, Gibbs brought his hand up and smacked the back of DiNozzo's head, a smirk lingering as the younger man ended up grinning as well. They started off at a slow but steady pace, the older man not wanting to over do it. "You'll keep up or get left behind, DiNozzo," Gibbs warned and glanced over at him with another smirk, feeling eyes on them.

Tony could feel eyes on them too, and figured now was as good a time as any to start their little act, and he returned the smirk. "At least the view would be nice," he shot back, his eyes scanning the people around them quickly. He hadn't been trained as well as Gibbs for surveillance, but he knew enough to know that watching your back was never a bad idea.

Surprised at the overly flirty comment, Gibbs upped the pace in punishment, his eyes sweeping over each house as they passed it. He even paused outside the blue house, where the Smiths had said they lived, glancing it over before he was continuing and upping the pace more, starting to sweat a little. "Noticed anything yet?" he asked, hoping for some sort of sign of where they were supposed to look for this killer.

"Well, there's a hot lesbian couple in the house next to the Smiths' place," he told Gibbs with a somewhat dazed grin, suddenly liking this undercover op a lot more. Although, he wasn't sure it would stay that way if these runs were going to become a regular occurrence."Wanna slow down a little, Boss? I'm having trouble keeping up," he admitted, even though he was pretty sure the first time the man had picked up the pace, he'd been doing it as some cruel form of revenge.

Why wasn't that surprising? Slowing the pace only slightly, Gibbs looked over at the younger man, a little amused by the fact that he'd noticed the lesbians. There were a few, actually, including a couple of women DiNozzo had missed. They were slightly older, but just as good looking, one with a head full of hair and a mischievous smile that reminded him of his ex-wife (the one that wasn't deceased). "That's hardly suspicious, DiNozzo, I don't want to know what you ogled at, I want to know what you noticed," Gibbs said before carrying on, his face slightly flushed under his tanned skin. "Lot 14b, did you see the truck?" he asked him, noticing that it was the same make as the vehicle that had left the tire tracks at the crime scene.

"I did," DiNozzo confirmed with a nod, although he hadn't noticed anything special about it. He wasn't a big car guy, preferred motorcycles, they were where the real fun was. Cars were just a safer way to get from point A to point B. "What about it? Did we have that plate number in the case file or something?"

"Same make of car, but there's five others around here, too. Seems like it's a popular vehicle in this neighborhood," Jethro told Tony as they jogged past house after house, Gibbs' clothes starting to stick to him. He finally slowed to a stop, grabbing onto a fence as he caught his breath, eyes on the younger male.

"We're probably going to have to get Abby in," he told DiNozzo, the two of them having met while they were arranging everything for the cover. In fact, Abby had thrown in some pretty good suggestions, and she was the one that knew everything about the evidence. It wasn't like he could go into work-it would break his cover-so she would just have to come to him. And anyway, Abby was eccentric enough that she'd fit in around here without the visit bringing them too much unwanted attention.

Before responding, Tony took a moment to catch his breath as well, not at all used to this jogging business. Honestly, even though he'd teased the older man about his age, he hadn't expected Gibbs to get as worn down by the jog. As he swept his eyes over the other man, with what he told himself was worry, he couldn't help but notice the muscles he was hiding under that shirt, now that the sweat was making it cling to him. He didn't have overly huge muscles or anything, but they were obviously well toned, and even from underneath his shirt, they looked pretty damn impressive.

Feeling Anthony's eyes on him, Gibbs arched his brow curiously. "Something the matter, DiNozzo?"

Realizing that he was staring, DiNozzo quickly moved his eyes up to meet his boss', hoping that he was successfully hiding his guilt and embarrassment at being caught looking. "I guess I'm just wondering what you mean by that, Boss. You mean bring her in undercover?" he asked curiously.

"Just for a visit," Jethro confirmed, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and using it to wipe his sweaty face. He felt uncomfortably out of shape, but he supposed being an NCIS officer did that to you-too much time spent behind a desk. Plus, he had to admit... he wasn't as young as he used to be. "Can't go to her, bring her here," he muttered before starting to jog again, not waiting to make sure that DiNozzo was ready to carry on.

He wasn't, but Tony didn't suppose that mattered to the other man, so after an annoyed huff, he followed. "Makes sense, didn't even think of not being able to go in to the office. Plus, it probably wouldn't hurt to let her have a look around as well, she might spot something we've missed."

Having the overwhelming urge to stop again, his body protesting the fact that he'd started to run again so suddenly, Tony slowed once again, his hand resting on the sore spot on his side. It was by pure accident that he looked up to see a stout, blond man leaving the house across the street from them, his gaze darting around as he made his way to his car.

"Gibbs," he called, getting his attention and motioning to the man with a subtle nod of his head.

Slowing to a stop, Gibbs glanced over and his eyes fell on the license plate, memorizing it as he gave a wave to the driver, turning and carrying on, not wanting to look like they were staring or being nosy. He glanced back once more before his stride picked up, leaving DiNozzo behind some as he headed for what looked like a small cafe, the idea of a good strong coffee very appealing by that point, that and a long glass of water.


	6. When Gibbs gives you lemons

After their morning run, Gibbs didn't give Tony (or himself, for that matter) time to wind down, he instead led him out to the front with a couple of spades and a gardening fork. Throwing down a couple pairs of gardening gloves, the older man looked around with his piercing blue eyes, noting the overgrown gardens and even the remains of an old dog house tucked into the too long grass. He arched a brow and turned back to Tony, passing him a spade. "I want everything alive or dead removed from the gardens, we're going to redo them from scratch," he told the other man before he picked up a hammer, going to pull down the old, rotting dog house. There was no point in keeping it, they didn't have a dog and weren't likely to get one. Even if they did, it would only have to be made from scratch again, the wood completely rotted right through, Gibbs noted as he broke open the side, the wood like wet cardboard.

"Everything?" Tony asked disbelievingly, but Gibbs had already gone to tend to the dog house, leaving the younger man standing there looking at the spade as if he didn't know what to do with it.

"Everything," Gibbs confirmed with a brisk nod, glancing over at the gardens.

It took Anthony a few moments to come to terms with the fact that there was no chance of getting out of this-despite the fact that he had never in his life tended to a garden (unless watering plants counted)-and he found a spot close to where Gibbs was working to start pulling up weeds. He didn't bother to put the gloves on as he knelt down, using the spade to clear away some of the dirt around the roots, wanting to make sure he did this right, because he sure as hell didn't plan on doing it a second time.

"You could have at least given me a chance to sit down for a few moments, Boss," he told the man, but he wasn't whining. He already knew, without having to ask, that he was going to have to get used to doing things that required more physical labor than he was used to.

"Do you need to sit down, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked him, his gaze falling on the other male, watching him work for a few moments, actually finding himself admiring the way Tony's skin glinted with sweat as he worked under the hot sun and he supposed he probably looked the same, if not worse, by this point.

"Nope," Tony responded once he'd finally pulled some weeds free-he hoped they wouldn't all be this difficult. "I'm just saying, it would have been a nice gesture," he told the man, turning to look at him and wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "Maybe later on when we do get a break, I'll make us some fresh squeezed lemonade. How does that sound, Boss?" he questioned jokingly, thinking about the lamest thing that one of those housewives on TV might do for their husband.

"Don't think we have any lemons, DiNozzo," Gibbs replied, looking amused at the idea.

"Well there's your answer, Boss. That's what we should plant first," Tony enthused jokingly as he yanked a few more weeds free from their home in the dirt, once again wiping at the sweat on his brow. "Lemons."

Throwing the crumbling wood down into a pile near his feet, Gibbs rubbed his hands over his shirt and headed towards the other male, noticing people walking by, curiously watching them. They had to act more like a couple, he knew that, but he was hesitant on this sort of stuff-even in a real marriage he wasn't very good at it, having become a bit hard shelled since the death of his first wife. It was then, as he got closer, that he noticed DiNozzo wasn't wearing the gloves and he picked a pair up, using them to smack the man over the back of the head. "The gloves, Tony."

"Ow," Tony huffed, taking the gloves from him. "Sorry, Hon, I'm not exactly used to these sort of activities," he told Gibbs, taking the gloves and brushing the dirt off of his hands before he pulled them on. "What are we going to do with all these once we've pulled them up, anyway?" he asked, working on pulling more of the weeds up, finding it much easier to do with the gloves on-not that he'd admit that to Gibbs.

"The wood could probably be dried and burned, the vegetation can go in a pile somewhere and I'll build a compost bin around it," he told him after a moments thought, remembering all this kind of stuff from his first wife, it had been the last time he'd even cared. Then again, this was just a cover, it had to look convincing. "Just throw them into a pile," he told DiNozzo with a small grin as he worked, making sure to pull his own gloves on-even if he didn't need to, it was always better to set an example by doing it yourself.

"I can do that," Tony agreed with a nod. It sounded easy enough.

With a huff, he pulled some more weeds free, stumbling back a little as he did so and nearly falling right onto his ass. He only just managed to catch himself, looking a little embarrassed as he set them aside, along with the lot he'd already pulled up. It was pretty quiet for awhile other than the sounds of them working, both of them surveying the area as they did so. By the time Tony stopped, he had done the entire area along the front of the house, the dirt looking a bit messy now, but that could easily be fixed.

"Making progress, Boss," he noted, leaning back against the side of the house, looking quite the mess covered in sweat and dirt. "Noticed anything suspicious?"

"Other than the fact that this whole neighborhood seems to have nothing better to do than to spy on the new couple in the area?" Gibbs grumbled, standing straight and dropping down the hammer to the grass. he'd managed to clear away the doghouse and had started on making a small compost area for them to throw the weeds into, tucking it around the side of the house. "Not yet, nothing overly unusual. It doesn't help that I've been working with a hammer close to my ear."

Looking at DiNozzo, the older man dragged the gloves off of his hands, walking towards the other agent. Tony was a good looking guy and it was easy to see what a woman could appreciate about him, especially how he looked right then. And Leroy knew that as a newlywed husband he should be taking advantage of that, or at least look like he was. The older man hesitated when he got close, meeting Tony's eyes.

"You're a mess."

Looking up at him, a little surprised, Tony let out a huff of laughter that quickly turned into a smirk. It was a nice attempt, but he was getting the vibe that Jethro had no idea what he was doing. He looked a bit like a highschool boy, asking a girl out for the first time, and honestly... Tony found it kind of endearing. He stood, his eyes sweeping over the older man briefly as he took his gloves off and dropped them at his feet, reaching up to wipe away a smudge on Gibbs' cheek, but only succeeding in making it worse.

"Not much better yourself," he pointed out, and he was tempted to suggest that they go inside, get cleaned up, and find something more relaxing to do. There was still a lot of work to be done in the yard, though, and he was past trying to get out of it, wanting to just get it over with at this point. "Guess we'll both have to have a shower when we're through. You better not use all the hot water," he warned teasingly, trying to make it sound as though they were a couple.

"Would you rather we shower together, DiNozzo?" Gibbs practically growled at him, frustrated by the fact that the idea wasn't all that unappealing to him.

Despite the gruff tone behind the suggestion, making it obvious-at least from Tony's perspective-that he wasn't serious, the words had come unexpectedly and Tony couldn't stop the smartassed grin that appeared on his face. "Yes, Boss. Thank you, Boss. I thought you'd never ask," he answered cheekily.

It was obvious that Gibbs was surprised by Tony's response, but he quickly covered it with one of his famous dark looks as he got in Tony's personal space, their faces only inches apart, bodies so close he could feel the heat radiating off the younger male. Opening his mouth to say something in reply, Gibbs was interrupted by the feel of eyes on his back and he paused, shifting and leaning in to talk low into Tony's ear, making it look decidedly intimate. "What do you see?"

The initial closeness of their bodies had been enough to make Tony's heart race in his ribcage, but now he was breathless as well. The younger man moved his eyes to glance over his husband's shoulder, hands settling on Gibbs' hips to make it look even more convincing as he watched one of their neighbors across the street from them, struggling with a large dog that didn't seem to want to listen.

"Someone with a dog," he answered a little too throatily for his liking, moving out from between Gibbs and the house so that he could go and help them out. He was admittedly glad for the distraction, not sure he liked how much he'd enjoyed the way his boss had been standing so close. It was a little rattling for him, since he'd never really been attracted to another male before. At least not since college, and that had only been once-and he'd had a lot of alcohol in his system, not to mention other illegal substances.

"Let me help you," he called out to the blond, raising his hand in greeting.

Initially, he'd thought that he was a woman with his feminine looks, but the flat chest and slightly masculine jawline made Tony pretty certain that this was a male. "New dog?" he asked as he took the leash, finding that it was rather easy for him to control the dog once he was the one in control-it must not have liked this guy... strange.

"My partner's," The pretty blond corrected, holding out a slender hand to the handsome man. "Christof Romanov, I live a few streets up," he told him with a too sweet smile, one that had Gibbs coming up behind DiNozzo, his hand settling on his husband's back, actually feeling protective. Something deep in his gut was warning him, he just wasn't sure about what, yet. The older man bent down at the knees, falling into a crouch and he palmed the dog's head, smoothing his fingers over fur and roughly rubbing at his ears, the short, burley dog letting out a huff and leaning against him.

"Tony DiNoz-Sorry," Tony stopped himself with a grin, glad that they were supposed to be newlyweds instead of long time partners. "Still getting used to that. Tony Gibbs, this is my partner, Jethro," he introduced, watching the older man pet the dog. "Sweet dog."

"That's what everyone says, but he just doesn't listen to me. My partner is working, though, and someone has to walk him," Christof explained, looking relieved to have a break from trying to wrangle the stubborn dog. "I think Bruno's just a fan of more... masculine men. Guess that means he fits right in around here."

Tony found himself laughing at the joke and finding himself wondering if everyone gave their dogs stupid, typical names like that. The strange feeling that he'd had about this man was slipping away easily. Christof was so friendly and approachable, and honestly, if he really did play for the other team, Tony probably wouldn't have been against having a partner like the pretty blond. It was a lot closer to what he was used to dating in a woman, nothing like the strong-natured Gibbs. Although, Tony was getting more and more used to that.

Taking the dog leash from Tony, Jethro adjusted it and looped the handle somewhat, shortening the dog's leash, handing it back to the blond. "Like this," he said gruffly, not particularly interested in what was going on. He just had a bad, or at least a not so good, feeling about the young blond. The way Tony was looking at him didn't help things at all, only making the older man feel more protective and possessive by the moment-something that frustrated him to no end.

Grabbing at the lead, Christof looked surprised before smiling. "You're just so cute! You know, you don't have to hold back just because little ole me is here with you," he told them, thinking he knew everything and figuring that the reason they weren't all lovey-dovey was because he was there.

"Jethro gets a little embarrassed," Tony used as an excuse, flashing the pretty boy a wide smile. "It was all I could do to get him to kiss me during the ceremony."

"Ugh, I almost envy you! I'm sure I won't even be able to get Lou's hands off my ass when we have ours," Christof admitted with a pleasant laugh. "I'd better get this silly dog back before he decides to drag me all over the neighborhood. Thank you for you help, Jethro," he told the older man with another of those sweet smiles and a bat of those long lashes before he was carrying on, having a little more control over the dog now. This time, it was Tony who felt possessiveness course through him, and he shifted a little closer without even realizing he'd done so.

The moment Christof's back was turned, Gibbs' hand came up and connected with the back of DiNozzo's head, punishment for telling the blond that he was embarrassed. He supposed, though-he thought as he dropped his hand down again, resting it on Tony's back-that it was his own fault for not being quicker and giving the other man the chance to speak for him.


End file.
